Adebayo Akinfenwa: The Man Behind the Beast

Forget Júlio Baptista or Sandro – the real beast makes these lads look like Peter Crouch by comparison.

#TBT this pic was taken just after I scored my 1st professional hatrick. I believe b4 I retire I will get another 1 #ByGodsGrace #ILookLikeTheDamHulk #BMOMindSet #BMOPower #BMOGoals #BMODefyYourLimitation #BMODreamBig #BMOThinkBigBeBig #BeastModeTrack #BMOClothing OfficialBMOStore.co.uk

A photo posted by Adebayo Akinfenwa (@realakinfenwa) on Dec 12, 2014 at 10:08am PST

Adebayo Akinfenwa, who currently plays for AFC Wimbledon as a striker, has been giving lower league defences sweat-drenched nightmares for more than a decade. When AFC Wimbledon got drawn out of the hat against Liverpool earlier this season in the third round of the FA Cup, the stage was set for Bayo to terrorise a Premier League back four – and he rose to the occasion with a goal against his boyhood club along with some pretty nifty skills…   Not bad for a big lad! Anyway, here’s some pub quiz knowledge about the beast that is Adebayo Akinfenwa…

• Akinfenwa weighs in at more than 16 stone (roughly 1.5 Lionel Messis) and can bench press 180kg (almost 3 Lionel Messi’s).

• He moved to Lithuania at the age of 18 to pursue his football career.

• On his debut match, fans jeered him with racist abuse: “Zigga, zigga, zigga, kill the f*cking n*gga.”

• An 11-year-old Lithuanian girl wearing a “White Power” shirt once made a Hitler salute to his face.

• Despite all of this, Bayo took inspiration from his brother’s advice to “stay [in Lithuania] and show them what you are about.”

• He is officially the strongest player in the world, according to cult computer game FIFA.

• He once began an interview by telling his questioner: “Man, if I got a good grip, I could probably throw you across the room and out the window.”

• He has his own line of designer clothing with the slogan “Beast Mode On.”

• He once schooled notorious hardman Razor Ruddock in a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.

• His pulse can only be measured on the Richter Scale.

• He can kill two stones with one bird.

Although he has been approached many times to play American football or rugby, Bayo never had a doubt about which sport was the one for him. Now he has a chance to prove it on the biggest stage, and not everyone was happy about it:  

“@romankemp: When Kolo found out he’s facing @daRealAkinfenwa… pic.twitter.com/GdDJw3Ojqr”lol — daRealAAkinfenwa (@daRealAkinfenwa) December 9, 2014

You can follow the man behind the beast on Twitter @daRealAkinfenwa

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